Have a read through all the helpful information on Travel Insurance contained on the Moneysupermarket page.

http://www.moneysupermarket.com/travel-insurance/?Source=MSSEMS

huckster:

Yes you would be covered, as the cancellation cover is from the date you paid for your trip and is in respect of the reasons for cancelling the trip as defined by your policy terms/conditions, at the time of the cancellation reason occuring. But you would need to inform the Insurers straightaway and they would obviously look to incur the least possible cost. Depending on the reasons for cancelling, the Insurers may expect the trip dates to be moved, if the trip arrangements allow for this.

If you changed Insurers from May, the new Insurers would pick up the risk from the date your took out the new policy, providing nothing had occured before you took up the policy, which gave rise to the possibility of cancellation of the trip.

What should we know before purchasing the travel insurance.

Yes you would be covered, as the cancellation cover is from the date you paid for your trip and is in respect of the reasons for cancelling the trip as defined by your policy terms/conditions, at the time of the cancellation reason occuring. But you would need to inform the Insurers straightaway and they would obviously look to incur the least possible cost. Depending on the reasons for cancelling, the Insurers may expect the trip dates to be moved, if the trip arrangements allow for this.

If you changed Insurers from May, the new Insurers would pick up the risk from the date your took out the new policy, providing nothing had occured before you took up the policy, which gave rise to the possibility of cancellation of the trip.

I would really appreciate help with this dilemma. I already have annual family travel insurance which doesn't expire till May. I've now booked an expensive trip to Japan in the summer. Would me existing insurance cover me for cancellation if I had to cancel before the renewal date in May. Or would it not because the holiday is due to be taken after May? In other words, should I take out another policy now to cover us against cancellation, even though we already have a policy? I hope this makes sense. It does to me but I'm not sure if I've explained it very well. By the way, there is no reason to think we might have to cancel - it's just a precaution.

Many thanks

Chris